HGTV/Paste SXSW Preview - LEAGUES

HGTV has teamed up with Paste for our ninth annual party in Austin, Texas, at SXSW, March 13-16. With 11 bands per day, the lineup includes both some of the festival’s most exciting veteran performers including Billy Bragg, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale, Josh Ritter and The Zombies, as well as newcomers like Foxygen, The Lone Bellow and GUARDS.

The official four-day party will be held at one of 6th Street’s biggest music venues, The Stage on Sixth (508 E. 6th Street), from noon to 6 p.m. In the days leading up to the event, we’ll post previews on the artists on the lineup.

Thad Cockrell’s music as a singer/songwriter is, well, leagues away from LEAGUES. He spent years plying his trade in the alt-country trenches before joining with guitarist Tyler Burkham and drummer Jeremy Lutito and creating LEAGUES’ danceable rock. If you look back, though, the infectious melodies were always there; they’ve just been freed to move a little more. Cockrell, too, is no longer trapped behind an acoustic guitar. He leads the new band with only a mic in his hand, leading the dance party by example.